Baking Bread
by blerghy
Summary: Lief tries his hand at cooking and Jasmine intervenes. Who knew baking could go so far? Very fluffy and somewhat pointless.


Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Jasmine's feet made no sound on the cool marble of the stairs as she headed down them. It was incredibly early in the morning, nobody else was awake, and Jasmine was going to go outside for a walk. Kree and Filli were still asleep, so she had decided not to wake them and to go by herself.

_Thud._ Jasmine's green eyes darted around in alarm. The castle should be silent unless, for some strange reason, one of her friends had gotten up before her. _Thud. _It was coming from the kitchen. As Jasmine made her way towards the noise, she thought about who it could be. Sharn never got up that early for any reason, nor did Barda. Doom would not be making noise, nor would Ranesh. Marilen was pregnant and would still be in bed, even if she was awake. Jasmine could not think of any reason that Lief would get up so early. Being a king was tiring, so Lief was normally up at breakfast time, not at the crack of dawn. Jasmine was certain that it was not Lief.

As Jasmine opened the door, she was met with the sight of flour absolutely everywhere. It was on the walls, the furniture, even the ceiling. Jasmine realised that she had been very wrong, for standing at a bench, looking utterly gleeful, was King Lief of Deltora. He was hitting something that looked like a grey lump, and occasionally picking it up and throwing it at the bench again, resulting in a thudding sound.

"Morning, Jasmine!" he said cheerfully.

"What in Adin's name are you doing?" Jasmine asked, completely ignoring his greeting.

"Making bread!" he exclaimed, punching the grey lump of what Jasmine realised was meant to be dough.

"What for?"

"I could not sleep, so I thought I could make bread instead."

"When will you learn that thinking is not one of your strengths?" she teased, closing the door behind her.

Jasmine shoved her royal friend out of the way and prodded the so-called dough.

"Lief, you are supposed to knead the bread, not punch it!"

"Kneading takes too long." he replied sheepishly.

"Honestly, patience is a virtue. Learn to be patient."

"You are more impatient than I am, and I have lots of virtues! Just not patience…"

Rolling her eyes, the black-haired young woman began to knead the bread properly, instead of throwing it. Lief stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. Jasmine was confused at the gesture before she looked at his hands. Lief was putting flour on her.

"Lief!" she yelled, pushing him away and brushing her shoulders, trying to get the flour off. The young king was looking mischievously gleeful again, dodging as she swiped at him.

"You are supposed to be a brave, noble, renowned king, yet here you are, behaving like a five-year-old. What would your subjects think?" Jasmine snapped, giving up her attempts to dust off her shirt.

"You tell me, what would they think?" Lief repeated innocently.

"That you are a raving lunatic."

"Same to you."

Jasmine huffed and turned back to the bread, kneading it more forcefully than last time. She began coughing uncontrollably as something hit her in the back and small particles of something went around her face. As the substance settled, Jasmine looked down at her clothes. They were white. Her eyes narrowed and her nails dug into the dough. Lief was in deep trouble.

Pretending that nothing had happened, Jasmine finished kneading the bread and put it into a tin. She stoked the fire and put the bread in the oven that was above the flames, leaving the heat from the fire to cook it. She completely ignored Lief and walked over to the cupboard, pretending to be searching for something. Jasmine grabbed a bag of flour and hurled it at Lief, making him cough and splutter. He stopped coughing and looked at her, his face, hair and clothes completely white.

"This is war," he muttered. Lunging forward, Lief grabbed Jasmine by the waist and lifted her into the air. She screamed and squirmed but he refused to let her down, choosing to carry her outside instead. There was a large pond near the kitchen door, so he walked to it and flung his wriggling companion into the water. Unfortunately for him, Jasmine grabbed his arm as she went under, causing him to topple in as well.

The friends both stood up in the water, which turned out to reach Lief's waist, both laughing hysterically.

"You idiot!" Jasmine had managed to contain her laughter and was touching her sodden, floury hair.

"You threw flour at me!" Lief accused, grinning like a maniac.

"You threw it at me first, of course I retaliated."

"But I am the king, so I can do whatever I want, including throwing flour at my best friend. You however…"

"Be quiet and help me get out."

Lief waded to the edge of the pond and scrambled out. He extended an arm to Jasmine, who took it. It did not work though. Lief ended up back in the water with Jasmine. She laughed lightly and helped the dripping king stand up again.

"Thank you, Jasmine." Lief said. Jasmine could feel his wet arm still around her, could feel his breath near her face. He was smiling at her, and she realised how close they were standing, but made no move to pull back. Lief tentatively lowered his head so that their foreheads were touching, but moved no closer. Their eyes met, and Jasmine suddenly felt more confident. She closed the gap between them, kissing him gently on the lips. Lief returned the kiss, his hand cupping her face as Jasmine wrapped her arms around his neck. Both were bursting with happiness, as they knew that the other loved them. The kiss was gentle and sweet, very innocent, and they would always remember it. They broke apart and their eyes met again, both had smiles on heir faces, and both decided to keep what had happened just between them. It was their secret.

Lief took Jasmine's hand and led her to the edge of the pond. "Why did you ask me to help you if you could do it yourself?" he grinned, hauling himself out onto the bank, for a second time.

"You owed me." Jasmine laughed.

"For what?"

"Finishing your bread." Jasmine replied. She and Lief looked at each other for a moment before sprinting back to the flour-covered kitchen, leaving a trail of water in their wake.

After they got the bread out, they set it on the bench and stared at it. It was completely black.

"I think we may have cooked it for a _little _too long." Lief murmured. Jasmine just laughed.

"You know, I feel like a walk. What about you?" Lief asked.

"A walk would be very nice." Jasmine replied gently.

Lief took her hand again and they walked back out into the garden, both still dripping and covered in flour, but both very happy. They laughed and smiled, and later in the afternoon, when Barda spoke about the smouldering lump of something and flour all over the kitchen, they just shared a glance and smiled again.

A/N Another pointless, fluffy story. I'm trying to write a sequel to Sweet Dreams, I really am, it's just that the sequel I wrote was even more fluffy and pointless! Anyway, reviews would be greatly appreciated. :)


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